Bench:1x5 - 78kg1x5 - 83kg1x8 - 88kg (barely squeaked out the last rep.) Followed by DC-style stretch5x10 - 52kg (I exploded up and sent the bar in the air and caught it after each rep)

Stopped only long enough to get the bar on the ground and set up for rows.

BB Rows:5x10 - 45kg (super strict, focused on form - arched back parallel to the ground-"big butt", squeezing the shoulder blades back and driving the elbows to the ceiling while eliminating momentum caused by hip drive)

All lifting was finished in under 30min.

Treadmill for 2.25km in 15min. average speed of about 9km/hr. may not look like much but for me it is. Maybe I'll work some sprint intervals in there somewhere with box jumps!

What are all the things on that tray? I'm guessing the reddish stuff in the top middle is kim chi? the green stuff on the left some kind of pickled thing maybe? obviously a banana at the bottom...what's the purple rice? does it have poi in it or something? I ask because there's an asian market close by and I might want to look for some of things.

The purple rice is actually black before it's cooked. It's rather pricey so they usually just mix a little into the regular white rice...adds a nice nutty flavor. The lower right is potatoes and celery, top middle is the kimchi, left is cabbage, cucumber, chili peppers and garlic with sesame oil and salt...sort of "pickled" top right is seaweed with carrots and garlic...probably just stir fried with some salt and soy sauce. And last but not least, obviously, the bananas! mouth watering yet? know mine is!

So, I was traveling all weekend and spent about 24 hours on the road...not a good situation for DOMS in the lower back from Friday's deadlifting! I'm still in OUCH! mode. Plus, I developed a pain in my right knee just above the kneecap. I hope it clears up tomorrow!I think I ate maybe 3 meals the whole weekend, too. felt like I was wasting away! mostly just poor planning on my part. Either way, got a bit of catching up to do. I wonder how it's going to affect my lifting tomorrow.

@TF Good question! The lower weight/higher rep at the end is simply one of the many options for the 5/3/1 format. For me, I feel it's a good way to add volume to the W/O and as a "finisher." Also, I find that doing lower weight/higher reps at the end helps my main lifts at the heavier weights (when used as assistance work). When I'm fighting through a sticking point on a final rep, I don't want to fail because the muscle has no endurance or is fatigued. This helps take care of that. That, and making sure I've got enough nutrition (glycogen stores). This may certainly be different for others, but that's my experience and "logic."

For those that are curious about the 5/3/1 as I am doing it, here is a snapshot from the spreadsheet I created.

5_3_1 sample 4-week cycle.JPG (36.92 KiB) Viewed 3055 times

It's set up for anybody to use...just need to plug in the main numbers and it figures out the weights for each session for you...all the way out to (5) 4-week cycles, so 20 weeks total. If you'd like a copy, PM me.

Today's W/O:

Originally, I was going to just skip the OHP session and keep on track with the squats for today. BUT, the knee pain was more than I could bare. Jogging this morning was really rough, but felt better toward the end. Later, I tried a REALLY light set of 10 with only 35kg and it was screaming during every rep. The lower back just feels like DOMS, so I'm not worried there. The knee issue is NOT a happy thing...more like a knife being jammed into my thigh just above the kneecap. I'll continue to stretch and roll the area and hope it's better in time to squat on Wednesday. I'll also probably take some anti-inflammatory meds tonight and follow the RICE principle. Overall I wasn't very motivated today in light of the knee issue, even though I got 9 reps on the last core set...my only consolation.

Actually, Trillium, it's kg. and I didn't do the chins yesterday (it's my least favorite) PLUS, I've been considering skippin' the assistance exercises through this cycle since I am still planning to go back to SL5x5 after once through the 5/3/1 and the point is to give my body the rest it needs to be able to squat three times a week again.

This morning I went for a light jog of 600m just to feel out the knee. It actually felt a little painful, but WAY better than yesterday. Afterward, I spent over an hour rolling out the legs and glutes with the bat and a glass sphere about the size of a softball (the piriformis got extra attention this morning! ) Everything was feeling great after all of that, so I figured, "why not get some squats in and get caught up with the schedule!" It turned out to be a great idea and after squatting the knee pain was completely gone. Seems a bit bizarre that the thing that was so painful to do is actually what made the pain go away!

All finished in under 30 minutes. I'm really enjoying the short workouts here. I hope I'll still want to go back to SL5x5 after this cycle! What ever works best! We'll see at the end of this 4-week cycle and go from there.